History VideoGame / SonicForces

* {{Chickification}}: In [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure previous]] [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure2 games]], Tails was a capable fighter in his own right who can hold his own against Chaos 4 and even battle Eggman. In ''Adventure 2'', he even vows to avenge Sonic after his DisneyDeath. Here, he cowers in fear when Chaos in his ''base form'' attacks him and cries out for Sonic to help him.

* ADayInTheLimelight: Shadow is revealed to be playable through free DLC, marking this the first time he's been made playable since ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''[[note]]other games such as ''VideoGame/SonicRivals'', ''VideoGame/SonicRunners'', or ''VideoGame/SonicDash'' notwithstanding[[/note]].

* WeaponOfChoice: Players can choose a Wispon for their Avatar before starting a level, including:

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Infinite does this constantly through the game, thinking himself so powerful that he can just easily brush aside anyone who goes against him. [[spoiler:It costs him dearly, as he ends up letting the Avatar live during a previous attack, who would be instrumental in bringing him down. A prototype ruby he was holding ends up in the heroes' possession that foils Eggman's inital endgame, and he doesn't kill Sonic when he has the chance after their 2nd encounter, allowing him to get around his power and defeat him.]] Subverted with Eggman, however, despite Infinite mocking him for his previous defeats, as Eggman has long since learned from them. To wit, [[spoiler:he has a backup generator for the Ruby when the Death Egg is destroyed, and even when the heroes destroy that, he has ''another'' emergency power source for a last-ditch attack on the Resistance, even through he has to overtax the Ruby's power to keep the edge. He also takes Infinite out of the picture when he's beaten, largely to make sure he doesn't turn against him, as previous attempts to control a powerful source have never ended well.]]

* BalefulPolymorph: The Blue Wisp's Wispon attack is a GroundPound that transforms nearby enemies into Blue Cubes, which can then be transformed into Rings.

** Blue: Cube Wispon (A [[BalefulPolymorph polymorphizer]] [[DropTheHammer hammer]])

** One brief part of ''Fist Bump''[='=]s composition[[note]]''Someone to push me to victory''[[/note]] is very similar to an equally brief part of ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'''s theme[[note]]the first time ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' is mentioned in that song[[/note]].
** Going over to the instrumental version, a [[https://youtu.be/OOUjuj4izcQ?t=1m5s brief section]] seems to draw from the theme to [[VideoGame/SonicHeroes Seaside Hill]].
** At times, the last bit of the Classic Green Hill music sounds like the intro to "[[VideoGame/SonicColors Reach for the Stars]]", as well as [[VideoGame/SonictheHedgehog4 Splash Hill Act 1]].
** Chemical Plant, while a new composition, clearly was inspired by the original song. It also has parts of Labyrinth Zone's theme from the 8-bit version of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''. Likewise, parts of Modern Sonic's Network Terminal, set at the same location, seem to be inspired by the structure of the Act 2 Chemical Plant remix from ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations''. Finally, the beginning part of the Avatar's Space Port sounds a little like the beginning of ''Dreams of an Absolution'' from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''.

** The story of Eggman taking over most of the world, with Sonic as a member of [[LaResistance a resistance group]], gives off ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehogSatAM'' vibes.
** The trailer for the Switch release shows that Classic Sonic has changed his action style to be more ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogCD Sonic CD]]''-based, as he spins as he hits springs, and when he hits full speed, his feet move in [[WheelOFeet the Super Peel-Out style]].
** Eggman has taken over 99% of the planet, just like how both of his [[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics comic book]] [[ComicBook/SonicTheComic counterparts]] conquered over the same percentage of their respective worlds.

** Dr. Eggman has [[FishOutOfTemporalWater displaced Sonic from time]], just like he did in ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic''.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: The dialogue differences between the Japanese text and English localization indicate the English being indecisive between DarkerAndEdgier or LighterAndSofter. Tails simply went missing and Sonic's fate was left unconfirmed in Japanese, whereas the English version has everyone assume Sonic was KilledOffForReal and Tails "[[HeroicBSOD lost it]]". The English version also has Knuckles mention Eggman ''[[ColdBloodedTorture torturing Sonic for months]]'', whereas the Japanese has no such dialogue. On the other hand, Infinite's [[AGodAmI god complex]] and lines were toned down in English, Sonic had a lot more casual jokes inserted into his dialogue, and two minor expletives (Sonic calling Infinite a masked prick and Infinite mentioning Hell when [[spoiler:attempting to drop a sun on the Resistance]]) were completely omitted. Even minor bits of extra exposition, like for [[spoiler:Null Space]] or Infinite briefly considering the Avatar to be [[spoiler:holding a Phantom Ruby prototype]], and several cases of {{Foreshadowing}}, were omitted in the English text.

* AwardBaitSong: "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gb-FuxWhX2o The Light of Hope]]."

* VillainSong: The new villain Infinite has his own, intimidating [[https://youtu.be/XKjOJuPjiu4 song]], with [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=P7X5WrLUgZI the lyrics]] largely gloating about how powerful he is, and how he will destroy anyone who stands in his way.

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn6uqp_mr98 Infinite's trailer]] contains a scene of him wiping the floor with Sonic.

''Forces'' would wound up becoming the [[EndOfAnAge final game]] in the "second generation of ''Sonic'' games" (which began with 1998's ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''), with the next mainline title, ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' marking the start of a "third generation of Sonic games".

One more last fist bump…''\\

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** From the Resistance, the game never shows Tails' abilities as a great engineer and mechanical genius. This is especially baffling as he [[Videogame/SonicAdventure2 fought Eggman himself with a walker version of his Tornado]], [[Videogame/SonicBattle fought with weapons like a mega buster]], and [[Videogame/SonicChronicles had robots that could heal people]]. You could HandWave saying these were destroyed off-screen or Tails lost all means to create these machines, but the game never imply such thing.

** From the Resistance, the game never shows Tails abilities as a great engineer and mechanical genius. This is especially baffling as he [[Videogame/SonicAdventure2 fought Eggman himself with a walker version of his Tornado]], [[Videogame/SonicBattle fought with weapons like a mega buster]], and [[Videogame/SonicChronicles had robots that could heal people]]. You could HandWave saying these were destroyed off-screen or Tails lost all means to create these machines, but the game never imply such thing.

** Classic Sonic is refered to as the "Sonic from another world", rather than another dimension. This is more similar to how Silver also refers to his time as another world.

* ForgotAboutHisPowers: There is a internal-logic problem in ''Forces'' regarding its use of characters. While the game suffers from [[ShowDontTell not showing much of its story]], meaning we don't know how the supporting cast handles the fight against Eggman army besides the final cutscene, but even then, the characters show a severe lack of action regarding their powers.

* GenreRoulette: Modern Sonic's music {{Rock}} with ElectronicMusic influence, Classic Sonic's music is {{Chiptune}} in the style of a Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, the Avatar's music is DrumAndBass-influenced ElectronicDanceMusic, Infinite's theme is NuMetal, [[spoiler:the FinalBoss' theme is an [[OrchestralBombing orchestral score]],]] and "The Light of Hope" is a PowerBallad.

* GenreRoulette: Modern Sonic's music is Rock with ElectronicMusic influence, Classic Sonic's music is Chiptune in the style of a Genesis/Mega Drive, the Avatar's music is DrumAndBass-influenced ElectronicDanceMusic, Infinite's theme is NuMetal, [[spoiler:the FinalBoss' theme is an orchestral score]] and "Light of Hope" is a PowerBallad.

* {{Retraux}}: The music used in Classic Sonic's stages use 16-bit soundfonts that are very similar to those of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis, in contrast to ''Generations'' (which had music that was remixed with electronic and techno beats) and ''Mania'' (which had NewJackSwing and Dance music in the style of ''Sonic CD'').

* The '''[[PlayerCharacter Avatar]]''', a [[CharacterCustomization custom-created character]], features gameplay that serves as a hybrid of both Modern and Classic stages, featuring a blend of high-velocity action and platforming, as well as a heavy emphasis on combat utilizing Wispons, a gadget that harnesses the power of the Wisps to execute powerful attacks and manuevers.

** A throwaway line from Tails before the final battle mentions that the real Phantom Ruby is invulnerable even after the reactor is destroyed and doesn't need a power supply. [[spoiler: [[Videogame/SonicMania]]'s Encore Mode shows the Ruby itself A-okay even after Eggman's defeat]].

* CutsceneBoss: [[spoiler:Shadow and Chaos are fought and taken out in a cutscene by the real Shadow and Classic Sonic, respectively.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: The Avatar is the protagonist of the story. They start off as a scared soldier whose squad was killed off by Infinite, and during the story and thanks to Sonic's influence, they mature into a brave hero. Sonic, by comparison, [[StaticCharacter is his usual self without a character arc, instead being the ideal hero of the Resistance]].

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: [[spoiler:Plot details render it initially unclear just what the Phantom Ruby is, and what Tails discovers leads it to seemingly be that it was just a synthetic gem that had been created by Modern Eggman all along, and that the Phantom Ruby in ''Mania'' was a Prototype that got lost. Episode Shadow and the prequel comics eventually clear this up, and the original Phantom Ruby is indeed real, having originated from Angel Island in ''Mania'' — Eggman merely found it after it warped to the Modern world after escaping Classic Super Sonic, and studied it to incorporate into his plans.]]

''Forces'' was the last mainline game involving writers Creator/KenPontac and Creator/WarrenGraff, who retired from the series after ''Videogame/TeamSonicRacing''. They worked in the game as part of the localization script, with the original script being written by Creator/EitaroToyoda, a Japanese employee from Sega who worked as a character supervisor since ''Videogame/SonicFreeRiders''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The game starts with Eggman talking wonders about his new invention that will allow him to take control of the world. The camera then frames the Phantom Ruby on Infinite's chest, and later in the game Eggman and Infinite go out looking for Phantom Ruby prototypes [[spoiler: hinting the Phantom Ruby that Infinite has is not the real thing, but a prototype. The FinalBoss is with Eggman with the real Phantom Ruby.]]

* ActionCommands: A Double Boost section is prefaced by Sonic and the Avatar charging up the boost, which is done by mashing the Boost button until the outer ring shrinks in size to reach the button's image. Strangely, ''not'' performing the command has no actual effect besides not playing the lyrics to "Fist Bump" in the background music and causing Sonic and the Avatar to stumble briefly before resuming the Double Boost like nothing happened.